An Analysis of Integrated Management of the External Borders of the European Union

Abstract

One of the most prominent elements of external policy in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice is that of “integrated border management”. Its material content is defined and legislated in the current regulations on the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, limiting its field of action to the control of migratory flows at the border. However, no formal analysis has been conducted of the concept of integrated border management. Even the most specialist literature has been limited to identifying and analysing the material content, barely considering the term “integrated” within the framework of shared competences between the EU and Member States. Consequently, the aim of the present paper is to identify a formal definition of “integrated border management”, by analysing the development of the concept and its material component. I shall also highlight the short-term implications of this formal definition for the EU, especially with respect to the adoption of an EU “integrated management strategy” consistent with the national strategies of Member States.

Keywords

• area of freedom
• security and justice
• european border and coast guard agency
• external borders
• integrated management
• shared competence